The Albatross – FanDuel Daily Fantasy Golf Preview – Travelers Championship

The U.S. Open and Erin Hills turned out to be a difficult challenge for many of the world’s best golfers and yet we saw Brooks Koepka shoot 16 under par to tie the best score in relation to par in U.S. Open history.  After the Memorial Tournament I did not think there would be another event this season where both DJ and Rahm would miss the cut together and sure enough, it happened just a couple weeks later.  In fact, only Spieth made the cut of the top tier golfers priced over $10K last week on FanDuel.  Overall, The Albatross had 10 of 15 golfers play over the weekend and if you had the right combination of those along with any Koepka and Matsuyama exposure, you should have been in great GPP positions come late Sunday.  The U.S. Open continued a recent trend where fading the top priced golfers played out well and after analyzing the top tier golfers this week for the Travelers Championship, I believe fading the $10K+ golfers once again will have a lot of merit.

TPC River Highlands is a short course and really gives golfers of any type an opportunity.  Big hitters like Bubba Watson and Marc Leischman have won here but so have the likes of Ken Duke and Freddie Jacobson.  Accurate approach shots and Par 4 scoring are going to be two aspects of a golfer’s game that need to be working to have a chance here this week.

As always, the FGI PGA Model is going to assist us with our lineup building process because it identifies the best golfers with solid Current Form and whose Key Stats set up nicely for this course.  It also allows us to factor in Course History as well as an emphasis on Vegas.  Below are the FGI PGA Model Overall weights I will be using this week along with the Key Stats weights for the Travelers Championship courtesy of our friends at Fantasy Golf Metrics (@FGMetrics on Twitter): 

FGI PGA Model Overall weights:

                Current Form: 30%

                Key Stats: 35%

                Vegas: 15%

                Course History: 20%

FGI PGA Model Key Stats weights:

                SGT2G: 25%

                SGP: 20%

                DD: 10%

                PROX: 10%

                PAR4: 15%

                BOB%: 20%

With no DJ this week, Rory, Spieth and Day all come in the low $10K range for our top tier golfers.  Spieth and Rory are essentially the co-favorites followed closely by Day.  Even though it is not difficult to build a lineup with one or even two of these guys in it, I am personally reluctant to spend up that high so I can take advantage of some great pricing in the $7K and $8K range.  Again, with a short course like TPC River Highlands that allows for a wider range of golfers to find success, I want to be able to fit as many of the best ones I can in my lineup and salary cap space will be crucial.

Justin Thomas – $9,800:  Justin Thomas is slowing starting to change my mind that he belongs in the same conversation with the world’s best golfers.  If he was able to build off of his Round 3 score of 63 on Saturday, we might have seen a different U.S. Open champion on Sunday.  Thomas must learn from that U.S. Open experience and I do not see any better way than to come out firing at the Travelers Championship.  He finished T3 here last year so he will be going for the win this year.

Brandt Snedeker – $9,000:  Snedeker is coming off a T9 finish at the U.S. Open on a course that does not particularly match up to his golf game.  He is not the longest off of the tee but that did not stop him from dropping 21 birdies there.  TPC River Highlands should be a welcome sight for Snedeker and should have no issues continuing his recent scoring surge.  A Top 10 in 2015 and a Top 15 in 2014 shows he has what it takes to contend come Sunday.

Tony Finau – $8,400:  Finau is a big hitter off the tee and should be excited to be back on a course that he has posted consecutive Top 25 finishes at.  He will also be looking to continue his climb in the OWGR so he can start competing in more majors.   Expect a strong effort from Finau this week at the Travelers Championship.

Marc Leishman – $8,300:  Leishman continues his strong season with a T27 finish at the U.S. Open.  Prior to that he came through for us at the Memorial Tournament with a T15 finish.  He is “popping” in the FGI PGA Model once again this week and it is hard to find a good reason not to play him at $8,300.  The Aussie is a cut maker and has the ability to win here.  Play Leishman with confidence again this week.

Brendan Steele – $8,200:  Brendan Steele did his usual thing at The U.S. Open last week and that is make the cut and score a bunch of fantasy points.  Now he is in a weaker field for the Travelers Championship and his momentum from last week should carry over to another strong fantasy performance.  Steele has a solid overall game that fits nicely at TPC River Highlands and that has translated into four straight Top 25 finishes.  When you combine that and his mid-range salary, you are getting a reliable cut maker with some salary cap flexibility when building your FanDuel lineups this week.

Brian Harman – $7,700:  I am curious to see what Harman’s follow-up act will be after a T2 at the U.S. Open where Erin Hills played 7,741 yards long.  Now he going to TPC River Highlands that plays 6,841 yards long and much better suits his playing style.  Harman is currently in career form right now and I expect him to carry that forward at the Travelers Championship where he has shown Top 5 upside before.

Bud Cauley – $7,200:  Bud Cauley missed the cut last week but so did a lot of good golfers.  Prior to the U.S. Open he had been showing some really good form and Bud should have a decent shot at getting that going again at the Travelers Championship.  As a capable Par 4 scorer, Bud should give you some decent fantasy scoring with the likelihood of some finishing points as well by the end of the tournament.

Kyle Stanley – $7,000:  Kyle Stanley is playing some really good golf right now and we are starting to see his upside when his putter is working.  He has three Top 10 finishes in his last six events played and I do not anticipate him slowing down this week at the Travelers Championship.  Kyle Stanley may not have the best course history at TPC River Highlands but this is a weaker field than what we have seen recently and he should be able to put on another ball striking clinic.  At $7,000, Kyle Stanley is a great value because he can rack up the fantasy points quickly and also allow for other high caliber golfers to make your FanDuel roster. 

Graham DeLaet – $6,700:  We are getting DeLaet below $7K because of his recent streaky play.   His Key Stats however set up very nicely here and has also shown Top 5 upside.  More importantly, he has made the cut his last four times playing in this event.  DeLaet finished T6 the RBC Heritage a few weeks ago on a shorter course like this and as long as he does not he need to resort to his scrambling abilities, another made cut with some finishing points should be in the works at the Travelers Championship.

Chez Reavie – $6,400:  Chez is another streaky golfer but he absolutely appears to be in form right now.  With recent finishes of T16 at the U.S. Open and T4 at the St. Jude Classic, Chez looks primed for another Top 25 finish at the Travelers Championship.  His approach game and Par 4 scoring are working right now so having that continue at TPC River Highlands will translate to some decent fantasy scoring with potentially finishing points as well.HHHjj

Honorable Mentions:

Paul Casey – $9,400

Patrick Reed – $9,200

Webb Simpson $7,900

Xander Schauffele – $6,100

Kevin Streelman – $5,900

 

Good luck.

-Erik Dantoft

@edantoft on Twitter